CIRCA for protection of indigenous people
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 08 2017:
On the occasion of International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples which falls on August 9, Coalition for Indigenes' Rights Campaign, Manipur (CIRCA) Students' front has reminded all indigenous communities of the State about the indigenous rights guaranteed by the United Nations and called upon all concerned to renew their pledge for the protection and promotion of their rights against the strong wave of cultural imperialism and neo-colonialism .
Since Manipur was merged into the Union of India on Oct 15, 1949, the population of indigenous people of the State was just about 14 lakh out of a total of 1.324 billion population of India .
The total population of Meiteis in Manipur is just about 8 lakh, a statement issued by CIRCA Students' Front said .
The indigenous people are assimilated under India's 'One culture, one religion, one Nation' theory.
The process of assimilation began when the then Chief Commissioner Himmat Singh abolished the regulation to restrict entry of outsiders in 1950, it said .
Now, people have been suppressed of their rights under one of the largest democracies in the world, India, as there is no provision in the Constitution for the protection of indigenous people, it said .
The United Nations is committed for the protection and preservation of cultural, socio-political and economic rights of about 370 million indigenous people.
Even as the UN is serious about the promotion of cultural wealth and traditional knowledge of the indigenous people, India has ruined the economic rights of the State's indigenous people, the statement said .
According to UNESCO report, Manipuri language is categorised as 'endangered.' In the wrongful Indianisation process, indigenous people tend to forget their own identity.
The impact of this Indianisation on the culture was so strong that the number of people whose looks/structure deviate from that of the indigenous people are increasing, it asserted .
It has also completely rooted out the economic base of the people besides rendering the community unable to determine for themselves, the statement said .
Artificial internecine feuds among the indigenous communities are taking centre stage due to fierce struggles to get more benefits which are doled out by India, it pointed out .
Assimilation process of smaller indigenous communities by larger Nations is a continuing process.
As of now, about eight thousand indigenous communities have become extinct while many others are at the brink of extinction .
18th century was the period when kingdoms/Nations in Asia and Africa were colonised by the European imperialists.
The 19th and first half of the 20th centuries were the period when these colonised Nations fought back to gain freedom or launched freedom movements .
In the period from the latter half of the 20th and 21st centuries, bigger or powerful Nations are launching a potent cultural imperialism and neo-colonialism policy against smaller indigenous communities .
CIRCA called upon indigenous people of the State to jointly initiate a movement for the protection and preservation of their rights and identities against the strong current of cultural imperialism and neo-colonialism.
It must be remembered by one and all that a Nation/community which has lost its culture is unable to get its entitled socio-political, economic and democratic rights.